The present invention pertains to vehicle-mounted lights, and more particularly to a vibration isolator for use with vehicle-mounted lights.
Lights have been mounted on vehicles such as cars, trucks and motorcycles to enable these vehicles to be operated at night or during periods of decreased visibility, and also to increase the visibility of the vehicles by operators of other vehicles. With particular regard to motorcycles, lights have typically been mounted to engine guards, handlebars, wheel forks, or other structural components of a motorcycle. Such motorcycle-mounted lights typically include a housing which is attached to the motorcycle structure whereby the lights are exposed to various environmental conditions such as moisture from rain and other inclement weather conditions, heat from the sun, and heat which is generated by the engine of the motorcycle. The lights are also subjected to vibration generated both by the vehicle itself and by the road surface over which the vehicle travels. Exposure to these environmental and vibration conditions has a negative effect on the life of bulbs used with vehicle-mounted lights, whereby the operating conditions tend to decrease the life of the bulb, thereby requiring frequent replacement. This is a particular problem for lights of the type incorporating a reflector to which is integrally mounted a light bulb, because the reflector is secured to the housing and vibrations transmitted from the vehicle to the housing are, in turn, directly transmitted to the bulb through the reflector. Aside from the nuisance of having to replace bulbs, since the bulbs is integral with the reflector, the entire bulb/reflector assembly must be replaced, increasing the operating and maintenance costs of the vehicle.
There is thus a need for a means by which a combined bulb and reflector assembly may be mounted in a vehicle-mounted light to protect the bulbs against damage caused by various environmental and vibration conditions and to prolong their service life.
The present invention provides a vibration isolator which is fabricated of resilient vibration-absorbing material and configured to engage the rim of a reflector located at the forward end thereof, and to function as a vibration-absorbing interface between the reflector and a light housing to which the reflector rim is mounted, thereby isolating the reflector, and in turn, the bulb, from vibrations imparted to the housing by the vehicle on which it is mounted. The vibration isolator also helps to seal the interior of the housing from moisture infiltration when the vibration isolator is compressed between the reflector rim and the periphery of a lens located in front of the reflector and urged against the vibration isolator by a threaded clamping ring which threads into the forward, open end of the housing.
In one aspect of the invention, the vibration isolator has a generally C-shaped cross-section consisting of spaced parallel front and rear annular sections integrally interconnected at their outer edges by a cylindrical central section disposed therebetween. The circular isolator is snugly fitted over the reflector rim, which extends radially outwardly from the forward end of the reflector, such that front and rear annular isolator sections sandwich the reflector rim, with the cylindrical central isolator section snugly encircling the peripheral edge of the reflector rim.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the vibration isolator includes a circular bead extending forwardly from the annular front surface of the front section of the isolator. Preferably the bead has a semi-circular cross-section. The surface of the bead directly contacts the rear surface of the lens periphery at a point slightly inboard of its edge to thereby seal against the lens.
In another aspect of the invention, the vibration isolator has an annual front section and a generally cylindrical central section extending rearwardly from an outer edge of the front section. An integral rear section extends rearwardly of the central section and has a semi-spherical or frusto-parabolic shape configured to engage a correspondingly shaped interior surface of the housing such that the vibration isolator is compressed between the rim of the reflector and the interior surface of the housing when the reflector and vibration isolator are installed within the housing.